The Coffee Shop
by 4youremyalways47
Summary: Castle and Beckett meet at a coffee shop. They strike up a conversation and by the end it could possibly lead to a date.


He loves to people watch and what better place to people watch than a coffee shop. He loves going to the coffee shop in the mornings to see people from all kinds of life coming together to get something they all like. Coffee. This is where he loves to write and where he gets his inspiration for writing. He likes to wonder about the people. Who are they? What makes them tick? Where have they been? What they are doing? What kind of jobs do they have? What is their drink order? He likes to give them stories.

He has been there for about an hour when he sees _her_. The woman of his dreams. He has watched her come in every morning for about a week. He isn't stalking her just admiring her from a distance. She is gorgeous. She has medium length brown hair that falls below her shoulders in soft curls. She has legs that are a mile long. She walks with such grace and ease despite the fact that she is wearing what seems to be six-inch heels. She comes in every day, waits in line, orders her drink, pays for it, gets it and leaves. Just the few minutes he gets to admire her he can tell that she is smart. He imagines that she works at a big law firm and that she is this high-class lawyer fighting for justice.

He expected to only see her for just a few minutes like always but he was surprised when that wasn't the case. Today was different. When she received her coffee, she looked around to find a place to sit down. He looks around and notices that all the seats in the little café are occupied. So, he does what he thinks is the brightest idea he has had in a while.

"You can sit with me if you want," he tells her as he motions towards the empty chair at his table.

"Oh really? Thank you but how do I know you aren't a serial killer praying on his next victim?" She asks as she quirks one of her eyebrows up.

"Well I guess that a risk you're going to have to take. I'm Rick by the way," he says as he reaches his hand out for her to shake.

"Kate" she says as she reaches for his outreached hand and shakes it.

A couple of seconds pass by with an awkward silence before Rick speaks again.

"I'm not though."

"You're not what?" she asked confused. She thought that maybe she had missed something.

"A serial killer. I am actually a writer." He tells her.

"Oh, you're one of those. I guess I can trust you." She says as she goes to sit down in the chair across from him. She pauses and points a finger at him, "but if you try anything I do have a gun."

"Wha…Wha..What?" he stutters as he stares at her in shock. Wow she is definitely not what he expected.

She snickers and tells him, "I'm a cop. A homicide detective to be more exact."

"Oh, Wow! That's so cool!" he exclaims in an almost giddy childlike way. His eyes getting big a saucers.

"Not if you're the victim." She states bluntly

"Yeah you're right. Sorry." He slumps back like a little kid who just got scolded.

"So, you're a writer. Anything I have read before?" She asks trying to change the subject to maybe cheer him up.

"Well nothing serious yet, but I am working on it."

"Well what is your genre?" she asks.

"Crime and mystery." He tells her with a smirk

"Really?" she ask doubtfully.

"I swear," he says as he throws his hands up in defeat.

"Well, I guess I'll have to be on the lookout for you on the best sellers list." She tells him with a smile.

"Yeah hopefully," he says with a huff

Another awkward silence passes. They both start looking around the quaint little coffee shop (she taking a sip as she does it and him thinking). In the short few silence he starts noticing every little thing about the coffee shop. The smell of the delicious coffee. The atmosphere, it feels relaxed and yet he feels nervous. The girl of his dreams is sitting at the same table. He blurts out the first thing that pops into his head.

"So what made you decide to have your coffee here today instead of taking it to go like normal?" _Crap what did I just do?_

She looks at him with a quizzical look, "So you've been watching me?"

"You're beautiful… no gorgeous! How could I not?" he tells her. "I'm sorry I start blurting out things when I get nervous. I'm usually not nervous around people but there is just something about you that…" he trails off unable to thing of the words to describe what he is feeling.

She blushes, ducks her head, and lets her curls fall to hide her face.

"Well what if I tell you that I wanted to drink my coffee here today because I wanted to pick up a man?" she states as she smiles with her tongue between her teeth.

As she finishes her sentence, he spits out his coffee that he was sipping.

She starts to laugh at him, "I am just kidding. It's my day off and I decided to do something different. I desperately needed a change."

"Well, I am glad that I have the privilege of spending this lovely morning with you," he tells her with a smile on his face.

They sit there for a couple hours just talking, laughing, and having a good time. They talk about the weather, sports, embarrassing stories, and just about everything they could think of. Eventually a quiet but comfortable silence falls. This time Kate breaks the silence with a question that hasn't come up yet.

"So, what are you doing here besides getting a coffee?" she asks

"Trying to get up the courage to ask you out," he said shyly.

She gave him a shocked look

"I am sorry was that inappropriate? You probably already have a boyfriend… or girlfriend? There is no way a beautiful woman like you isn't taken. I'm sorry you probably get this a lot. I shouldn't have said anything," he rambles.

She gives him a somewhat sad look, "So does that mean you aren't going to ask me?"

"What? No I just figured that you probably wouldn't want to get hit on or asked out on your day off by a stranger," he stammered.

"No you just assumed and you know what assuming gets you," she says with a smirk. "I'm actually single," she says after the fact a little encouraging.

He gave her a shocked but hesitant look.

"So does that mean that you will go on a date with me?" he asks hesitant

"So you're asking me out?"

"Yes, I am asking you out." He stated a little more confidently

"Then yes, but I am bringing my gun" she says with a smile.

"Deal" he agrees with a wide grin on his face.


End file.
